Rudy Giuliani, an attorney for President Trump, made a head-scratching defense of his boss Monday. (Charles Krupa / AP)

Michael Cohen did an awful job trying to develop a Trump-branded tower in Moscow during the 2016 campaign and should be blamed for any inconsistencies in President Trump’s public statements on the matter, Rudy Giuliani said Monday.

The former New York mayor made the head-scratching defense during a curse word-riddled conversation with the Daily News, claiming it would be inaccurate to say the President had any financial interests in Russia during the campaign since Cohen failed to seal a Trump Tower Moscow deal with Kremlin officials.

Advertisement

Giuliani claimed Cohen’s work on the real estate project was so flawed Trump didn’t consider it an actual opportunity and thereby stated repeatedly he didn’t have any ties to Russia.

“Cohen didn’t even know where to send the got damn emails,” Giuliani said, referencing a pitch Cohen — then Trump’s personal attorney and fixer — sent to a representative for Vladimir Putin’s press secretary in early 2016. “That tells me he doesn’t know s--t about Russia.”

Asked what was wrong about Cohen’s pitch, Giuliani said it was sent to a “general email address.” He didn’t specify where Cohen should have sent it instead.

“I do a lot of work in Poland and Hungary, and if I needed to send something I would know where to send it,” Giuliani said.

Trump spent the campaign insisting he had “nothing” to do with Russia and was “not involved” with the Kremlin in any way — even though Cohen’s guilty plea last month revealed negotiations about developing a Trump Tower in Moscow stretched well into the campaign.

Cohen, who confessed to lying to lawmakers about the Moscow tower talks, revealed in his plea that he regularly briefed Trump and his family members on the possible development. He also admitted discussions with Kremlin officials were still ongoing in January 2016.

But Giuliani claimed the President’s flat denial of Russian business connections stands because what Cohen was up to didn’t amount to anything tangible.

“If all you’re doing is having one of your guys trolling around there looking for business, that’s not doing anything,” Giuliani said, echoing a defense he has made repeatedly since Cohen’s plea on Nov. 29.

Cohen, who has been sentenced to three years in prison over his Moscow tower lies and various other crimes, did not return a request for comment.

Giuliani’s latest comments come on the heels of his revealing to ABC News that Trump said in written responses to special counsel Robert Mueller that his Moscow tower discussions with Cohen may have lasted “all the way up to November 2016."

Advertisement

Giuliani, 74, sought to clarify those remarks Monday, telling The News that “Trump doesn’t remember exactly when the discussions stopped.”

“His answer made sure it could cover up until November 2016,” Giuliani said.